Who is responsible for naming streets signs and how do they come up with the names?

Answer 1

When 911 came into my town (about 8 years ago), the street names changed from rural routes and highway numbers to street names. In much of the rural US, that's all we had until emergency workers couldn't find reported fires, wrecks, and other emergency needs. So the naming began ...

Here, the DOT folks went out to each house along the road and took names and ideas. They often named the street from the ancestral house on the road, sort of like the farmhouse at the end, whomever was oldest. We have a lot of 2 name roads, like Johnny Marner Road and Ola Bethune Circle. We also have a lot named for the landmark, such as Baptist Church Road. Finally, we have names leftover from prohibition. I live in the foothills of NC, prime moonshine country. The old moonshine paths (like the Dukes of Hazard) have since been paved and have houses along them, so they needed naming. Why name them other than what they have been known as for decades? That's how we got White Dirt Road, Pleasant Ridge-Traphill Road, etc. It's how the old 'shiners navigated ...and we wouldn't want them to get lost now, would we?

Answer 2

In most places the 911 commission and the post office get together and name streets. I am aware that residents can have some input but the meetings that I have seen where they try to accomadate residents in naming the street, the people get pissed at each other and argue so the committees just pick out names that fit the area or use common names like trees and flowers.

Answer 3

Tom-- how did they name streets before the 911 commission? My town is 150 years old and 99.9% of the streets were named before the 911 commission. I really doubt that the 911 commission has anything to do with it.